As part of its appeal rules package, the USPTO has released further information on the role of pre-appeal brief conferences in the prosecution process. As its name suggests, the pre-appeal brief conference program involves a meeting that occurs before an applicant files the formal appeal brief. The "conference" is an internal meeting between examiners and does not actually include the patent applicant or its representative. Rather, the applicant submits a short (5-page) memo that is reviewed at the conference. The program was introduced in FY2005 as a mechanism for helping to avoid unnecessary appeals.
The table below shows that the number of pre-appeal brief conference requests has been steadily rising since being introduced. The results have stayed relatively steady. During the five-year reported period. 56% of the pre-appeal brief conferences resulted in a decision by the conference members that the examiner's rejection was proper and that the case should proceed to the BPAI. 38% of the conferences resulted in the examiner withdrawing one or more rejections and then re-opening prosecution. 4% of the conferences resulted in a decision that all claims were patentable. And, 2% of the conferences rejected the pre-appeal brief conference request as defective.
|
FY |
Number of Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Requests |
Percent of Appeals |
Proceed to Board |
Reopen Prosecution |
Withdraw Rejections |
Defective Request |
|
2006 |
6,525 |
24% |
55% |
37% |
5% |
3% |
|
2007 |
7,240 |
25% |
56% |
38% |
4% |
2% |
|
2008 |
8,255 |
27% |
59% |
37% |
2% |
2% |
|
2009 |
9,967 |
30% |
56% |
39% |
3% |
2% |
|
2010 |
12,019 |
34% |
56% |
38% |
5% |
1% |
Prior to the pre-appeal brief conference program, a majority of appeals cases never reached the Board because the rejections were withdrawn after the applicant filed its formal brief. The pre-appeal brief conference program appears to have shifted that decisionmaking process forward. Now, examiners are much less likely than before to withdraw their rejections after an applicant files its formal appeal brief. That decision is made at a separate conference termed the appeal brief conference. In FY2010, the appeal brief conference resulted in a decision to file an examiner answer in 59% of cases. That is up from 39% in FY2005. Thus, the pre-appeal brief conference program does not seem to actually reduce patent examiner workload. However, it does help speed prosecution and allows a substantial number of applicants to avoid filing the formal appeal brief.
In an e-mail, Foley partner Stephen Maebius focused on the relative rates of re-opening prosecution. Pre-appeal brief conferences are relatively more likely to determine that prosecution should be re-opened (and presumably a new rejection issued). As compared with the pre-appeal brief conference results, appeal brief conferences are much more likely to determine that all rejections should be withdrawn. Maebius writes that "re-opening prosecution may increase the chance of lengthening a patent term adjustment, depending on the dates associated with earlier periods of the prosecution history. This may be an advantage where immediate issuance is not an objective and patent life is more valuable at the end of the patent term as in the case of pharmaceuticals. . . . On the other hand . . . filing a full appeal may be a better strategy when gaining immediate allowance is the objective."
PDF of Rules with Data: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-28493.pdf
